It had been three months since she had arrived in this world.

Three months since her defeat to Denji.

Three months since her failure.

Three months since the loss of everything.

Even now, she was bewildered beyond disbelief.

She had been on the edge of victory.

She should have won. She had won.

Pochita was in her grasp. All those who sought to oppose her were dead or dying. Only Kishibe had remained, but despite his skill, he had nothing. Everything he could give, he had already given. What he had left was already claimed. No Devil would form a contract with a hallowed husk. He was no threat to her.

Yet, despite her victory, she had lost. To none other than Denji. A child she had never bothered looking at. Someone whose face she saw but had not seen. To think that her dreams were taken away by someone so inconsequential filled her with ire.

A child incapable of writing a single sentence had beaten her, not with the power of the Chainsaw Devil, but with wit. The sheer humiliation of the defeat had not dampened in the slightest, even now.

Despite what she had done to him, she never hated him. Despite his abrasive and childish behavior, he was hard to truly hate.

On the contrary, she much enjoyed his presence. It was among the reasons why she had bothered to allow him in her company.

But a person can enjoy playing with a stray dog and never think twice about it the next day.

All that mattered was Pochita but she had lost. Despite her anger, she could admit that.

But what she could not understand was how.

The last thing she remembered before waking up was being cut apart by Denji.

Her contract with the Prime Minister granted her pseudo-immortality and, in a sense, invulnerability. Despite the sheer suffering brought on by Power's blood rampaging within her body, she had not been worried because there wasn't anything they could do permanently put her down. She could recover from any damage as long as there was a living Japanese citizen and teleport from any prison. Even if they were to send her to Hell, she could easily escape. Thus, anything they would try would just delay the inevitable.

At least, that was what she had thought.

One of her foes had somehow contracted or was associated with a Devil that could banish someone to a separate universe. It was the only way to bypass her immortality contract and explain her current predicament.

She had never considered it but once she thought about it, she was forced to admit it was possible. If the Hell Devil could move between dimensions, then why wouldn't there be a Devil that could do the same in between universes?

A devil's power correlated not only with the magnitude of the fear they spread but also their age. The older the devil, the more innate their fear becomes in the minds of humans. It was how she, the Control Devil, could defeat the Gun Devil despite its overwhelming power. While the fear of guns was far more significant in modern times, the fear of control has existed since the start of human civilization. After all, what was civilization if not a collection of humans living under the control of rules.

But despite her considerable powers as the Control Devil, she could not hope to match the Primal Devils, physical concepts of fear that were innate in every human since the start of their history. These were fears that existed long before the idea of Control was even understood. Attempting to form a contract with Devils of their caliber was nigh impossible. Not only because of the ridiculous price they demanded per contract but also because they never left Hell. However, Santa Claus had proved that it was still possible despite the difficulty. If someone had managed to forge a contract with one of these entities, then banishing her into a foreign universe was well within their abilities.

When she had first opened her eyes to the familiar but strange surroundings, she had assumed that she had simply been transported to a different area. It was cleaner and livelier, but she was still in Japan. But in less than a moment's worth of time, she realized something was very wrong.

All Devils were connected to Hell as it was the genesis and conclusion of every Devil. Hell was their womb as it was their grave. Ironically, many Devils considered Hell the same way humans did.

In the mortal world, most Devils were apex predators. But in Hell, they were prey where they would be killed by mightier Devils. It was a brutal environment even for those with the strength to survive. It was why so many devils were so fearful of returning to Hell despite having no memories of it.

But despite their aversion, all Devils felt the weight of Hell dragging them down like an anchor. She too had always felt its weight. Until now.

Her connection to Hell was severed.

For the first time in Makima's life, she panicked.

With dread in her heart, she frantically ransacked the local papers, drawing the worried eyes of strangers.

After reading through the first, she read through another… And another… And Another…

Despite the temptation to reject her new reality, she was forced to accept it.

And with acceptance came despair.

This was not her world but a foreign one. A world where nothing beyond humans existed. A world without Hell.

If there was no Hell, then there could not be Devils. If there were no Devils, then there was no Chainsaw Man. Without the Chainsaw, she would never have a family.

In a single moment, her dreams came crashing down, and the weight of her failures nearly crushed her.

Nearly…

Even those with the strongest wills were susceptible to breaking at the loss of everything.

However, Makima was the Control Devil. Her control over others was great but her control over herself was greater still.

She gripped her despair, her fear, and any emotion she deemed unworthy with an iron glove and squeezed, crushing them in her mental grip.

She may have lost the battle, but she refused to lose the war. Doors, after all, were used both ways. If she was transported here, it should be possible to be transported back.

Once she settled down, she realized that while Hell did not exist, something that she could not recognize did in its stead. Something that would perhaps prove key to escaping this world.

But even before she could worry about returning, she had far more pressing concerns.

With her banishment, all her contracts were broken. The devils she had enslaved, whether living or dead, were freed from her will. Worst of all, her contract with the Prime Minister of Japan was gone.

She was no longer immortal.

While she had all her abilities granted to her as the Control Devil, she was still vulnerable. While her physical prowess was beyond the average Devil's and far beyond even that of the greatest of humans, a single lucky shot was enough to kill her.

Thus, the first thing she did upon regaining her composure was to search for intelligence. Even without using her Control ability, people enthusiastically guided her to the closest library upon inquiry.

Thankfully, the internet existed within this world. Without it, her information-gathering session would have been exponentially longer.

Several quick searches proved what she had suspected.

There were no Devils in this world. In fact, this new world seemed to lack anything beyond humans. Anything supernatural was reported as hearsay or belonged in storybooks.

If the supernatural did not exist in this world or were deemed superstition, then it would mean that humans would have little defense or preparation against someone like her.

That did not mean that she could forgo caution. The government might have kept the supernatural under censorship. After all, what the public and the government knew was not the same; even if there was nothing beyond human, guns could still kill her.

To remedy this, the first action she took was to form a contract with the Prime Minister of the new world's Japan. Not that he would ever remember the details of the contract of course. As far as he was concerned, Makima was the daughter of a long-deceased friend.

With her pseudo-immortality regained, she crafted herself an alibi. In developed countries, every human has a paper trail. Finding someone without one would undoubtedly raise the eyebrows of the authorities, and she did not need their attention.

Thus, she spent the last three months implanting carefully crafted memories onto people who were now her past neighbors, classmates, and colleagues while obtaining completely legal documentation illegally.

She had finally regained a semblance of her life after her defeat against Denji.

Denji…

Just the thought of him brought a bitter taste to her mouth.

"Is everything okay Makima-san? You seem upset. Did I say something wrong?" asked Touta Matsuda, turning his gaze from the road to look at Makima in concern.

Matsuda had been tasked with the dubious honor of helping Makima settle down in her new residence. He was the youngest of the NPA, excluding her, and thus had been volunteered against his will.

He had seemed sullen at first but soon brightened up upon seeing her.

His help wasn't needed, nor was it particularly wanted. She would have been fine taking the transit considering that this Japan had excellent public services unlike her previous world's counterpart. The lack of Devils causing collateral damage seemed to be an excellent motivator for the government to invest in the people.

Unfortunately, Matsuda had insisted on volunteering his vehicle with himself as the driver.

So here she was, seated next to her future colleague as they headed to the apartment she had booked for a tour.

"It's nothing of concern Matsuda-san. I guess I'm just nervous about my new co-workers."

While Matsuda did not strike her as a reliable person, he seemed to try to cover his deficits with enthusiasm. It was an admirable quality.

Unfortunately, his lips never seemed to stop moving. He honestly reminded her of Tiramisu. Always so excited and eager to please.

She had droned him out a while ago.

"There's nothing to worry about! Sure they may be grumpy sometimes and make me do odd jobs like cleaning their cars, delivering food, and lending them money, but they are all great people!"

Makima paused. "Are you sure you're not a gofer, Matsuda-san?"

"That's a horrible thing to say, Makima-san! It's all part of the social culture. I'm the youngest and with the least experience, so I'm at the bottom of the ladder. Honestly, I was so excited when I heard a recruit fresh out of school would be joining us, but I doubt they would make you gofer for them."

"I guess I'm still the bottom rung," Matsuda muttered sullenly with a sigh.

"So you do admit you're a gofer."

"Hehe, I guess I am," he replied with embarrassment. "Honestly, I was hoping that if someone new came in, they would take over for me, and I would get real assignments instead of these…. Chores."

Doubtful, thought Makima. While she did not claim to understand the workplace culture of this new world, she felt that the reason Matsuda was never assigned any actual work was not that he was new but because he seemed so unreliable.

"Well I for one like helpful people," encouraged Makima with a smile.

Matsuda blushed.

She wondered just how he could land a job at the NPA, considering that even the freshest of their recruits came in with years of investigative and detective work. He was far too young and seemed inexperienced. In fact, he appeared as naïve as Denji, which was an accomplishment in itself, considering the latter had grown up eating trash. She herself was only able to enter due to her forged relationship with the Prime Minister, along with a glowing resume. Somehow, she doubted that Matsuda had either.

"W-well, that's enough about me. Let's talk about you, Makima-san. I heard you graduated from To-Oh; that's amazing. You must be super smart!"

"Thank you. But it's not as big of an accomplishment as it sounds. Anyone could have done the same with dedication and effort."

"Well, that anyone certainly isn't me. I could never sit still and study for more than half an hour even if my life depended on it." Matsuda said while laughing. "It was so bad that my mother had nightmares about my future. I was so glad when I got into a university good enough to get me into the NPA. It would've been embarrassing if I didn't get in, considering my father and grandfather served there."

Ah, that certainly explained the dislike. After all, no one likes a parachute.

Perhaps she should be concerned, considering she was also a parachute, but she was confident she could charm her way into the graces of her colleagues.

The only reason she entered the NPA was that it was the closest thing to the Devil Hunter Public Safety Bureau in terms of autonomy, authority, and plan of action. While she was no longer obligated to protect the citizens of Japan under contract, it was something that she had done for years. Without any leads on how to return to her world, she would need a job to keep her occupied. Thus she chose something familiar. Furthermore, her intelligence, combined with her abilities as the Control Devil, would make investigative work a breeze.

Their fashion choice was certainly a bonus as well.

"I can relate. I also joined law enforcement because of my father. He was a detective."

"Oh really? What's his name? I might know him." Asked Matsuda.

"I doubt it. He worked primarily overseas, where he met my mother."

"That makes sense considering your hair. Did they move back to Japan?"

"They passed in an accident," Makima replied sadly.

Matsuda's face suddenly became stiff as if he had swallowed a lemon. "Oh… I'm sorry to hear that… I…"

"It's all right Matsuda-san, you could not have known, and time heals all wounds. I made peace with it a long time ago."

Matsuda froze, looking as if he wished to say something but was unsure if he should.

"Makima-san, I…"

"Oh look, we've arrived. Please make a right at the next corner."

"Uh, Makima-san, are you sure this is the right place?" Asked Matsuda upon entering the luxuriously designed lobby. He seemed somewhat intimidated by the blatant display of wealth.

"I believe so; this is the right address, after all."

Makima was not particularly impressed. Although every piece of furnishing and art was elegant and well crafted, they were incompatible together and poorly arranged. It seemed as if the management tried to stuff as many expensive things in one place as possible to bedazzle potential customers like a puffed-up peacock trying to attract a mate.

"Makima-san?" Politely asked a female receptionist behind the counter.

"Yes, I am here for the tour scheduled at 11."

"You are right on time," said the receptionist with a smile. "Please follow me, I shall be your guide."

"Let's follow her, Matsuda-san." Said Makima, poking him with an elbow upon noticing that her male colleague still seemed dazed.

"Huh? Oh yeah."

"I am certain that you will find that no other complex can beat ours in quality, Makima-san." Boasted the guide. "In fact, many celebrities have lived and are currently living here! Ryuzaki himself moved in here several months ago."

"Mhmm." Followed along Makima halfheartedly although her companion was much more enthusiastic.

"No way! Do you think it'll be possible to get an autograph!" Matsuda exclaimed excitedly.

"Uhh… I believe he is busy at this moment, but I'm sure you will have plenty of opportunities to meet him in the future."

"Oh, that's so cool! Who else lives here? Ooh ooh what about Akita! I heard she lived in this-."

In the five minutes that it took to climb eight floors on the elevator and cross two hallways, Makima had heard more about celebrity culture than she had in all her previous years combined. She hadn't bothered to memorize any of the rambling, but she had thought the tidbit about a Golden Retriever eating some movie star's illegal drugs to be reasonably interesting.

It was an interesting experience for Makima, who was used to working with the no-nonsense type, but not one she minded.

In contrast, their guide seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed at Matsuda's incessant rambling, providing Makima a minuscule amount of pleasure in her suffering.

Fortunately for the guide, they finally arrived at their destination, giving her an excuse to cut off Matsuda when he began explaining in detail why he thought Bisha should have won the American Idol.

"Well, here it is. Your potential home. I am sure you will love this place Makima-san!" Said the guide cheerfully, her smile more natural without the constant droning of trivia in her ears.

"This living room is double the size of my entire apartment," muttered Matsuda.

Although she didn't show it, Makima agreed. She had picked an apartment in the same price range as the one she had lived in her previous world, but despite the similar pricings, the apartment before her was far larger.

It seemed that housing in this world was much cheaper, probably due to the lack of Devils causing wanton destruction.

"This is a two story unit with 2800 square feet of space along with three bedrooms accompanied by two and a half baths. It's large enough for large families plus pets! As you can see, this whole place was recently remodeled. From the entire kitchen to the wallpaper, there isn't anything in this place that isn't brand new!" Advertised their guide.

A family… thought Makima, her heart suddenly becoming heavy.

She could never have a family, but with the increased living space, she could certainly get more dogs. Perhaps 15 would be a good number.

"Furthermore, our customer services are just as superb as this home! Our maintenance crew will fix anything that breaks free of charge within the hour. Furthermore, we will personally deliver and set up any furniture you purchase directly to your apartment. The management will als-"

"I will take it," said Makima, cutting her off.

"That is excellent news!" The guide's smile seemed genuine for the first time since their meeting. "Then all there is left to do is a background check which will take around a week. Once everything checks out, you can sign the lease, and the apartment will be yours."

"A week? That is unfortunate. I would like to move in today."

"Uh…" The receptionist's smile cracked. "I'm sorry, mam but the background check is mandatory; I will make sure to put your case as the top priority to ensure you can move in as soon as possible."

"I have no problem with undergoing a background check. It's just that I have been living in hotels for the past two months so I would love to move in as soon as possible. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I am willing to pay a year's rent up front."

"P-please allow me a moment to contact my superiors." Replied the guide, eyes widening slightly along with Matsuda's."

In the end, money trumped all. She was glad to see that human greed transcended universal planes. Although it was understandable. People willing to rent such expensive apartments were rare; profit always came first as a business.

Within the next hour, the lease was signed, and the payment was delivered. The entire process could have been done in less than five if Makima didn't insist on reading the contract from cover to cover,

Upon confirming that everything was dealt with, Matsuda bid farewell and left but not without leaving his number, promising his help if she needed his assistance.

Finally… Thought Makima.

She still didn't have a bed or any kind of furniture and would need to sleep on the hard floor for the night, but the satisfaction from finally being ready to start her life after creating it was enough to override any thoughts of discomfort.

She relaxed for the first time since she arrived in this world. As the tension in her body left, a pang of hunger crept in.

She had not eaten since last week, and even Devils needed nutrition.

Thus, here she was, walking to the nearest mart which was quite the distance away, looking for something quick and convenient rather than searching for quality. Usually, it would be unsafe for a young lady to walk alone in the hours well past midnight in the sparsely populated streets, but Makima wasn't particularly concerned.

She walked slowly and steadily enjoying the night breeze and the scenery while digesting what she had seen so far.

Excluding the devils' existence, both worlds seemed almost identical on the surface. The languages, culture, technological level, and so on had all developed along the same paths and timelines. But upon closer inspection, there were several differences. For one thing, the Soviet Union of this world had collapsed decades ago, unlike her world's counterpart which was still going strong.

Furthermore, since the Chainsaw had not eaten the Nuclear, World War II, and Holocaust Devils, these events still had a firm place in the world.

But the most significant difference perhaps, was the people.

The people of this world just seemed happier.

In the world of Devils, poverty was high. Statistics suggested that a third of the population died from devils before they could die from old age leading to a vast population of people without the traditional two-parent and child family unit. Stories of children orphaned by Devil attacks were everyday news, and the government learned that it was cheaper to ignore such people than provide care for them.

Without any support or education, orphans ended up in the streets leading to a high population in the slums.

Along with the government's disinterest came the people's apathy. A single natural disaster was a tragedy, but one every day was just life. Victims of Devil attacks were as common as pigeons in the streets, and soon, the world itself became accustomed to the sufferings of others.

In general, defeatism and hopelessness plagued the streets. After all, why strive to do better when everything you have built and along with your life, could be destroyed by a Devil the next day?

Devils brought suffering to all, whether you died to them or not.

With suffering came cruelty, and cruelty brought suffering, perpetuating an endless cycle as the opportunists preyed on the misfortunes of others to alleviate their own.

It was only now that she lived in a world without Devils that she realized just how cloying the despair was in the world of her birth.

Despair that she could have erased…

Once again, her mood turned foul at the thought of her failures, dispersing any prior satisfaction.

Makima suddenly stopped.

Along with her cease of motion came the abrupt halt of two other scents. Scents had been following her since she left the apartment.

Judging by the odor of unwashed bodies and their actions, they did not seem like the law-abiding type—most likely criminal elements with unpleasant intentions.

Despite her stalkers, Makima was not particularly worried and moved on. She could easily lose them if needed.

Even if they proved bolder than expected, she could efficiently dispatch a couple of ruffians even without her gifts as the Control Devil.

Suddenly, heavy rain began to fall.

Rain this heavy would wash away just about anything, thought Makima as she stood still, gazing upon the clouds as the rain shower brushed against the smile that slowly graced her lips.

Switching directions, Makima calmly walked off road, wondering if killing something would improve her mood.

I do not simp for Makima but I do simp for reviews. So please leave a comment. :(